The history of Carson began long before there were any English or Spanish-speaking citizens about. This ancient plateau has been occupied for thousands of years by some of the oldest citizens on the continent, Native artifacts; arrowheads, pottery shards and stone tools have been popping up around Carson since the first settlers.
The present community of Carson was born in 1909. William K. Shupe, a farmhand and workabout who was a devout Mormon, was the founder. Shupe came from Virginia and for years, while he worked at Tres Piedras and elsewhere, he rode horseback or walked all over the west mesa, searching for a good place to start a Mormon community. He studied the water flow in the Petaca for 18 years and finally homesteaded what became the original Carson in 1907.
Carson celebrated its centennial in 2009. Several members of the community contributed articles about the history of our community in the publication The Carson Curmudgeon edited by Norman Davis. Community members continue to write about our history and we include some of that history here.